The end result could potentially be 12 million cartons short of last year's figure.

The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) has announced further reductions in its table grape estimate due to delayed ripening and lower bunch weight in one of its leading production regions.

In a release yesterday, the association forecast an estimate of between 55.4 million and 60.3 million cartons, compared to the last estimate of between 58.9 million and 63 million.

This compares to 67.6 million cartons of table grapes shipped in 2016-17.

The South African table grape season started normally from the earliest Northern Provinces Region. The Orange River region has seen a delay of between 7-10 days in the ripening of grapes with lighter bunch weights.

The next couple of weeks of packing will be shorter due to the public holidays over the Christmas period. Industry experts expect that despite the delay in ripening, fruit will not be delivered in peaks but will be evenly spread throughout the coming weeks.

The extreme heat during week 49 caused damage to grapes in parts of the Olifants River region. This region also saw a further cutback in water allocations, which has been accounted for in the updated estimate.

The estimate for the Berg River and Hex River regions remains the same at this point with the possible effect of the drought already accounted for. It is still too early to make an accurate prediction of the harvest in the last two regions.

SATI chief executive officer Willem Bestbier said producers advised they would endeavor to meet programs and contracted business while focusing on the well-known South African quality offering and taste.

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